Interior Design Intake Forms & Client Questionnaires

The client who emails you a Pinterest board with 47 pinned images and says "I want this vibe" and the client who says "I have no idea what I want, I just know I hate everything in this house" are both hiring you for the same service, but the intake conversation is completely different. The Pinterest client needs to be narrowed down — those 47 pins span mid-century modern, Japandi, coastal grandmother, and industrial loft, and you need to figure out which direction they actually want before you start sourcing. The blank-slate client needs structured questions that draw out preferences they did not know they had. A generic "describe your project" intake form serves neither client well.

The Interior Design intake form captures the practical and aesthetic information your studio needs before the first site visit. Property type — single-family home, condo, apartment, townhouse, new construction, commercial office, or hospitality. Project scope — single room, multiple rooms, whole-home, renovation, or new build furnishing. For each space, it captures room dimensions, ceiling height, natural light direction and intensity, existing architectural features (moldings, built-ins, fireplaces, exposed beams), and flooring material. These are facts that affect every specification you write, from sofa scale to window treatment hardware.

Style Discovery and Preference Mapping

Interior design intake is part project management and part psychology. The form includes a structured style preference section that goes beyond asking the client to pick from a list of labels. It captures color preferences and aversions (not just "I like blue" but whether they gravitate toward cool or warm tones, saturated or muted palettes), texture preferences (plush, sleek, rustic, mixed), pattern tolerance (large-scale, geometric, florals, none), and material preferences (natural wood, metal, glass, stone, upholstered). It asks about pieces they already own and love, pieces they own and want to replace, and whether family heirlooms or sentimental items need to be incorporated into the design.

For multi-room projects, the form captures which rooms are priority and whether they want a cohesive look throughout or distinct personalities in different spaces. It asks about lifestyle specifics that drive design decisions: do they entertain frequently, do they have children or pets (and what kind — a Labrador and a cat impose very different fabric requirements), do they work from home, does anyone in the household have mobility limitations, and how do they use each space on a typical day versus a weekend. These are the details that separate a beautiful but impractical design from one the client actually lives in.

Budget, Timeline, and Procurement

Budget conversations are the most uncomfortable part of interior design, and a structured intake form makes them less painful than a free-form discussion. The form captures overall project budget range, whether that includes construction or renovation costs or is furnishings-only, and how the client thinks about investment pieces versus budget items. It asks whether they have a hard ceiling or a range they are comfortable with, and whether they want to phase the project across multiple rounds of purchasing. Setting budget expectations at intake prevents the scenario every designer dreads: presenting a concept the client loves but cannot afford.

Timeline fields capture the target completion date, any hard deadlines (moving in, hosting a holiday, listing the home for sale), and whether the client is living in the space during the project. Procurement preferences include whether the client is comfortable with vintage or secondhand pieces, whether they want to purchase exclusively through your trade accounts, and their tolerance for lead times on custom upholstery, millwork, and imported materials. A client who needs everything delivered in six weeks and a client who is willing to wait four months for a custom sectional are different projects even if the budget is identical.

Intake vs. Client Questionnaire

The intake form is your internal studio document. You or your design assistant fills it out during the initial consultation and site visit, recording measurements, architectural details, and client preferences as discussed. It includes project management fields for design phases, vendor tracking, and installation scheduling. The companion client questionnaire is what you email to the client before the consultation. It asks them to describe how they use each room, share inspiration images, list must-haves and deal-breakers, and confirm budget range and timeline. Getting this before the first meeting means you arrive at the site visit prepared to discuss concepts rather than spending the entire session gathering basic information.

Pricing

Each form is $19.99 for the complete set (intake + questionnaire), $14.99 for intake only, or $9.99 for questionnaire only. All PDFs are fillable in Adobe Reader and password-protected against editing.

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